Docket Page 55 – Lost Daugter by Ali Mercer

CHARGE (What was the author trying to say?): to explore the absence of a mother from a child’s life.

FACTS: Rachel, Viv, and Lorena are separated from their children for different reasons. They are drawn together by being absent parents. Through their experiences they work to resolve their separations and in doing so, learn about themselves and each other. The author, in describing the book, says: “Loss is as universal as love, the flipside of the coin, and it has its moments of both darkness and illumination – the light is always love, the only way to get through the dark bits.” In each case, the mother separated themselves from the child because they thought it was in the child’s best interest. But was it?

VERDICT (Was the author successful?): Guilty, as charged. The shifting chronology made it difficult to follow at times.